osg33x

woensdag 13 januari 2016

Introduction.

Jide Technologies yesterday, January 12 2015 released the Alpha 1 release of their Remix OS for PC.It is based on Android-x86 with a traditional desktop GUI on top of it.Thus I was very excited to give it a spin.

Systemspecs.

On their website Jide Technologies provide some weird system requirements: An old computer with USB 3 (WTF?)I fully ignored these system requirements and ran it on this setup:i3 with 8 GB RAM, Intel 2500 HD Graphics, 16 GB Micro SD card Class 10 (7.5 Mbit/s).

Installation.

If you downloaded the ZIP archive from the Jide Technologies website, you'll have to unzip the file, which will create a subdirectory called Remix_OS_for_PC_64_B20160112_01_Alpha.This directory includes 3 files:How to Launch Remix OS for PC.txt (readme text file);Remix_OS_for_PC_64_B20160112_01_Alpha.iso (the actual ISO9660 image);remixos-usb-tool-B2016011102.exe (renamed Windows port of Unetbootin).Writing the ISO image to the MicroSD card was painless with the provided tool. But you could use *any* usb creation tool.

First boot.

The first boot was horribly slow. I made the bad decision to choose the persistence session, which had to create a data partition on the 16 GB 7.5 Mit/s MicroSD card.

Actually Remix OS complained that it would be slow and eventually not be able to boot from this device correctly.

Remix OS requires a 10 Mbit/s device.

Anyway it did the job and 40 minutes later the Remix OS desktop was in a usable state.Yet this is only the case during the first bootstrap, when choosing the persistence session. Now it boots within a minute from the same (too slow) MicroSD card.

As an alternative you could run the guest session, which doesn't have to create a time consuming data partition (during the first bootstrap). The downside of the guest session however is, that it won't keep your settings and (eventually optional) installed apps.

Using Remix OS for PC.

So what about the user experience? Is it worth giving it a spin?

I've got good and bad news for you. If you are a curious Operating Systems g33k like the ML2MST, I say: give it a shot.

If you are searching for a replacement for $LINUXDISTRO or Windows, you'd better stay away from Remix OS for PC for now.

The Good.

I'm pretty excited by the performance of Remix OS for PC in the long run. It recognized my Intel 2500 HD Graphics and uses Messa for hardware acceleration.

I was very surprised by the quality and speed of how it captured my USB 2 Webcam.

The desktop shell is fantastic, it works great and looks very slick and "modern".

The Bad.

Keeping in mind that this is the first alpha release, this puppy actually has a couple of bugs, which make it useless for daily use.First of all, I was unable to create an account (see schreenshot below). No matter how many times I click on "Add Account", nothing happens.

Conclusion.

Remix OS for PC is a very interesting project, I will keep an eye on it, but it's not ready for the general public yet. No fat lady singing and no Cigar yet. But it's a matter of time.This cute little puppy will grow up to be a mighty dog, to bite the establishment on PC in the ass :-p

zondag 19 juli 2015

It's official! the amturingpi project is cancelled!After some more research I figured out a Beowulf cluster might be a nice research project, but it is not useful for the goal I had in mind.I'm currently using my Raspberry Pi 2B as a "regular desktop computer", running (a modified version of) Ubuntu MATE (Linux) for Raspberry Pi2.Thus I bought/used the following additional hardware.

2 additional Raspberry Pi 2B boards;

1 HDMI cable;

1 HDMI to DVI-D converter;

1 Wireless keyboard and mouse set;

1 Euro to USB adapter;

1 USB 4 port HUB;

4 USB to Micro USB cables;

1 Ethernet Switch;

4 CAT6 Twisted pair cables with RJ-45 connectors;

1 Official Raspberry Pi power supply;

1 Raspberry Pi Case (black);

1 32 GB MicroSD card (for experimental Operating Systems);

1 USB Wireless adapter (owned already);

1 1.5 TB USB HDD (owned already).

The next research project is to use the RPI as a client for a Linux Terminal Server. But it doesn't make sense to document this myself, because it already is documented at the Project Homepage.

woensdag 10 juni 2015

I received my first Raspberry PI 2B as a birthday present from my sister in law Marij and brother Michel and haven't left it untouched ever since!

However in contrast to the majority of Raspberry Pi Enthusiasts, I am a seasoned Linux user (for 15 years), meaning my first steps with the Raspberry Pi 2B where a piece of cake, hardly a adventure ;-)

The first distribution I tried was Ubuntu MATE, which required only a single tweak.

I edited the /boot/config.txt file

sudo nano /boot/config.txt

to disable the "overscan" and get the correct screen resolution, by "un-commenting" (removing the # character) in line 10 to:

disable_overscan=1

Saving the edited file by pressing:

Ctrl X and Y

Then I rebooted, which solved the annoyance of an incorrect screen resolution.

After two days, I gave Rasbian a shot and reverted back to Ubuntu MATE, because the former is too minimalistic for my likings.The plan is to buy another MicroSD card, for "distro hopping" and keep Ubuntu MATE installed on the main MicroSD card, which I also got from Marij and Michel.Temporarily I'm using the Raspberry Pi 2B in my living room, because of the lack of a decent power supply and HDMI to DVI-D converter, I mostly control the MU (Master Unit) via ssh and VNC.

The plan is to buy the required hardware next week and place the nano cluster computer in my bedroom, with a dedicated flat screen monitor, 2 TB USB HDD (which I own already) and a wireless keyboard and mouse combination.

Needless to say I am extremely excited by the Raspberry Pi 2B and a nano cluster is not the only application I have for the cute little, yet powerful British computer!

donderdag 28 mei 2015

There is some great news for the #amturingpi project. First of all, I will get the first Raspberry PI 2 B and a 32GB Micro SDcard for my birthday, as a present by brother Michel and sister in law Marij. This will become the "master".

zondag 15 maart 2015

Introduction.

Ladies and gentlemen, I am delighted to introduce my next pet project, the A.M TuringPi computer cluster, based on Raspberry Pi 2 boards, using a Linux based Operating System, taking advantage of its scalability and outstanding PXE support.

Goal.

The goal is to create a "poor man's" 8 node (nano) computer cluster, who everyone - with average computer knowledge - is able to deploy. With the introduction of the powerful, yet energy efficient and cheap Raspberry Pi2, deploying your very own computer cluster, became a reasonable and valid option.

Base System (update April 2 2015).

The base system will be a 3 node system for the first experiments, I will add nodes from time to time.

Implementation.

The A.M TuringPi computer cluster will consist of a MU (Master Unit), while all other units are called nodes.The MU will have a keyboard, mouse, screen attached and will also provide boot- and disk services. All other nodes will merely provide CPU power and RAM.

Documentation.

Since the A.M TuringPi project is probably too technical, to post on general Social Media, I will keep you up to date with the progress on osg33x.

zaterdag 5 april 2014

The past 48 hours, I've been working on my new pet project MSXLive!, which will be a Hybrid CD, thumbdrive or sdcard (ISO9660 (Live) image), providing a out of the box working Virtual MSX2, which requires no configuration at all. Simply boot your PC from it, or mount the .ISO image in a Virtual Machine and you are ready to rock!

vrijdag 16 augustus 2013

Ladies and Gentlemen,I am delighted to announce the official release of my compilation album "Hasbara". Most of the songs are already available from my Soundclick music page, yet here is a link to the complete album in a single .zip file on Media Fire.The songs are stored in 128 Kbp/s MP3 files. A simple jewel case cover is included in PDF format and a "readme" text file.As usual, all songs are licensed under Creative Commons 3.0 BY-SA.Hasbara is dedicated to the people and state of Israel. I hope it is Zionist and Pro Israel Advocacy at its best!Have fun!Marti van Lin - Hasbara (the complete album).